The Whispers of Time and Defeat
by Literary Litany
Summary: Three years after Naraku’s defeat of the Inuyasha-tachi, and all still live? Shippou and Kirara are under Naraku’s spell, Inuyasha is the clutches of The Tormentor along with his brother, Sesshomaru, Sango is imprisoned in an Anshitsu(On Haitas)


AN: this is ONLY A PREVIEW!! It's not all dark and depressing, okay? The next chappie I hope to be longer, much longer, but if I feel I must end it sooner for effect, you'll forgive me, right?

**Chapter 1: The Sorceress's Bargain**

"Inuyasha!" The tone was angry, but held a sliver of doubt, worry almost. It had been endless ages since he had heard that voice. It was a voice from before the nightmares and torment of this empty void.

Who? He could not put a name to the sweet melody that struck up in him a hope that he thought had died one year ago. The memory of that final call. That was all the sound was, and he sunk once more into hopelessness.

"The boy lasted two years before he finally broke, and even then I saw there was still potential for… improvement." The old man's voice cracked in dry humor, and his colorless lips formed and inhuman grin. "Strongest of the lot, I think. Don't know what that Naraku fellow was thinking trying to kill them when yours truly could do so much worse. Still waiting on his full-blooded brother though. Didn't think that one would be easy, but this? I'll find his weakness, but in the meantime… Drink anyone?"

The sorceress and her companion exchanged glances, and the cloaked man nodded. He downed the sake quickly, his hood still disguising his features.

"And… How much did you say it would cost to take the hanyou as a… pet?" Her voice was cool and cold, like most of her kind, and its melodious undertones sent a shiver up the torturer's spine.

"Like I said, m'Lady: just a favor." His crook-toothed grin was still disconcerting to the woman, and she made no attempt to hide her distaste. After all, she was an evil sorceress.

"What kind of favor?" Her voice began to add a lilting, enticing melody to its sweet song. Even a torturer wasn't immune to her wiles, but he made no notice of the change.

"Just a simple spell, m'Lady. Simple for you, that is. I would like a… pet. It's said sorceresses of great power can call death-hounds from the other realm, and near as I can figure, with me getting naught any younger…" He trailed off, leaving the rest to her imagining. His coolness faltered at her scowling expression, though.

"A simple spell? Do you have any thought how many dark mages have been sucked into the underworld attempting such a feat?" Her snarl was more menacing than her smile was tantalizing, but her demeanor quickly regained its former calm. "But I am no mere mage. You will have what you wish, but it will be at a higher price."

Her cruel smile was daunting even to a master of fear, and he nodded. "I will need the brother as well, he need not be broken for my purposes, and," Her gaze lingered on her companion again, and his nod of almost reassurance disquieted the evil man even more. "I want their weapons. It is the only way to extract their powers."

"Alright." He said after moments of consideration. "But I better get me mutt fer' this." His speech momentarily laxed back into the old patterns of his base-born upbringing, and he sidled toward the nearest cage, where a clump of looked like a mess of bloodied red lay crumpled in one corner.

It was well that his back was turned, as the sorceress's expression changed, and she seemed a moment from decapitating him that second.

As Inuyasha opened his eyes, he found he stood before what he innately knew to be his new master. She was a visage of beauty like the moon, her lengths of black hair seeming to flow about her like the blackness of the sky, and her sapphire gem eyes were like craters as enchanting as the pale face itself.

He felt no swooning before this creature of beauty, for despite his jailer's claims, he was not completely gone. True, hope had left him, but bitterness had not abandoned his shell. He still held the sound of that last kind voice he had heard calling his name. He could no longer remember the name for that lost love, but he knew that he would never let them take the memory of her voice from him.

"And now for the sibling," said the sorceress, her tone oddly uneven. She motioned her companion forward, and he led the submissive hanyou back to the enchanted carriage waiting outside the prison gates. Silently anger boiled inside Inuyasha, how dare that wench use that voice… But he was already parted from her, and was being shoved roughly into the cart.

As the man unlocked the second cage, the sorceress caught a glimpse of the beast within. The three-legged enormous dog growled as she entered its abode. It seemed interested in the new visitor, as if deciding whether to taunt or attack.

"Hello again, Sesshomaru." She said sweetly, but her voice soon turned to venom. "You'll come with me now if you want to see the light of another day, and breathe another breath." She put an inflection so subtle into the word breathe that only his sensitive ears could hear it. He took a covert inhalation of breath, and his eyes narrowed.

The torturer, oblivious to the exchange, pulled on Sesshomaru's chains, and he followed with exaggerated resistance. It took an hour for the sorceress to conjure the canine being, and when it arose from the broken earth in the empty room, her instructions were explicit.

"When I have been gone one moon, devour the jailer, and return to your rest replenished," and when the obedient hell-hound went submissively to his new 'master' the sorceress was permitted to leave freely.

The tajiya let herself slip into another day of weeping, broken only by the alerting of her senses to an intruder on the grounds. Wielding Hiraikotsu, Sango made her way across the rock garden, and toward the boundaries of this self-imposed solitude. There had been enough wandering youkai and bandits to keep her skills honed, and she was sure this night would be no exception. The cloaked figure held a marred staff in one hand and a shimmering orb of light in the other.

"Sango…" The monk's voice was unmistakable, and for a moment she stood paralyzed. Was it really him? Could it truly be the one she'd mourned for three long years? But right then she cared not if he was really Miroku or a demon in disguise, and she threw herself at him, clutching at his robes as if to life itself.

Thank you everyone for reading this story! I would like to ask your honest opinion on the story, and yes, beg for reviews. I have not copied this plotline from anyone, so please, if you know of a similar story, I am not a plagiarizer. On that note, I do not own Inuyasha, nor am I paid by anyone for this writing, so please, no law suits.


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